I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but before the Aussie market was flooded by products from the USA we had our own reloading gear industry.
And at the top of the heap was a brand called Simplex.
Now Simplex are an interesting mob.
They have 2 lines of equipment......Master Simplex and Super Simplex.
Master Simplex gear was and is on a par with the best stuff RCBS or Redding make and they have a full range of dies which include many unusual cals.
But the Super Simplex is far more fascinating IMO.
Super Simplex dies are a 5/8" die instead of the standard 7/8".
They only make a necksizing die for their presses and they have a couple of different presses designed for the 5/8" dies.
But the range of available cals are huge.
Here's a list for those interested:
http://www.geocities.com/kombi1977/NetShootingPics/SuperSimplexDiesList.jpg
The most popular of the presses are the turret presses and these were originally 3 hole but now come as a 6 holer and retail for about $150.
I have to admit I've been intrigued by these for a while so last weekend when I came across this 3 holer for $45 at a gunshow I had to pick it up:

It still works fine and a proper clean will do it the world of good.
The good thing is that you can buy the 6 hole turret part for AUD$34 which still would make this press half the price of a new one.
But I'm not sure I can be bothered anyway.
As you can see the shell holder socket is a little odd and they look very different to standard ones.
More than that the ram rises as you raise the lever......odd, huh?
But they still work well.
 
Normally Super Simplex dies come in a 2 die set......just necksizing and seating along with the necessary shellholder.
Here's a pic below:

I don't actually know what that steel rod is for......believe it or not I bought the press because I like the way they work.
I don't even have any dies......yet.
I have a 8x57 set on order at the mo.
I guess it's a little like buying a gun to match some dies you have.
But I digress.
 
If you want a FL sizing die they make a cool little device called a vice type die.
Basically you lube your case, slip it into the die and then put the die and case into a decent sized vice and tighten it up until the case head is flush.
The die has a hole in the top and a metal rod which you then insert to tap the case back out of the die.
Sounds crazy? Well it's not.
In fact it works amazingly well for case forming wildcats like 303/25 and I have a Super Simplex 303/25 vice die so here it is:

I also have a 303/270 vice die on order to step down from 303 Brit before necking to 257 cal.
It cuts down on case casualties.
 
And finally, for those who are a little tired of paying an arm and a leg for a case trimmer, Simplex also make a trimmer called the Model 2 which retails for AUD$60 or there abouts.
I scored an older one from a friend for nothing and here's a pic:

As you can see, it's a basic sort of device.
The threaded rod in the RH side has ends for small primer holes or large ones and the cutter on the other end is a simple handle affair and the pilot screws onto the front of it.
The more recnt ones use a different pilot setup but I bought up every cal that a local shop had in old stock and when I need other cals a new cutter is only about $30.
Pilots are $6 but I think that's ok.
The thing works gangbusters though.
 
So, you may ask, why should anyone bother with such a system?
Well, the beauty of the Super Simplex dies is that much of the time the same dies that work for one cartridge in a single calibre work for all of the others.
If the shoulder angle and case dimensions at the shoulder are similar there is no reason why you can't reload 308, 30-30, 30-40 Krag and others using a 30-06 die set.
A friend uses a 45-70 set to reload his 577/450 and has excellent results.
Then there's the vice dies.
While a vice die may seem slow that's the beauty of it.
Usually you'd just necksize.
But when you have to case form or FL size once fired brass it sizes so slowly that there is far less danger of crushing the brass because you're a little too enthusiastic like some people maybe with a press.
It also cuts the leverage problem out of the equation.
And who can argue with AUD$60 for an effective case trimmer?
Now, how much are dies for this, you ask?
Standard cals......AUD$48; rarer cals.......AUD$58
All vice dies are $32.
BTW, for those interested in the dies but not a press, Simplex also make an adapter so the 5/8" dies will fit in a 7/8" press.
So there you go.
The sad thing is that due to the intense international domination of the market Simplex has faded into the background.
Incidentally I also have a set of 7/8" 303/25 Simplex Master dies which I use to reload on a simple Lee 7/8" press and have proved excellent.

Kombi;
What you describe sounds very similar the Lyman products of the first half of the 20 th century, 5/8" dies, vise , [not  vice] powered full length dies , 3 hole turrets, non standard shell holders.
Simplex may have been operating under license of Lyman.
Lyman still makes some 5/8" for use in the hand held "Tong Tool"
When I first helped with reloading, in the '50s, my cousin and I used a very old Lyman tong tool in .32-20.

It's entirely possible that the Super Simplex stuff is very similar to the old Lyman stuff but there must be some differences because I doubt Simplex would bother paying a licencing fee as they still manifacture Super Simplex gear.
And incidentally, here in Oz, and other places in the old British Empire, we spell vice with a C.
But then we speak the Queen's English.

Hi Guys,

No Kombi we speak and write English ...... Fullstop!


American "English" is a bastardisation of it combining the differences and the problems of a non existant education system is most parts and a lot of Forigners, I.E Dutch, German, Italian, Polish etc so the American "English" was wrtitten as it sounded. What you must remember is that America as such is only 230 years old.


Now proper English developed over a period of about 900 years starting around 1070 or so and incorporates Norman French influence to the Native Saxon tongue. Hence the Cheque (Personal money-cashiers etc) in English rather than "Check in American "English". A lot of the time English proper is more precise like with Tyre being the round object fitted to wheels against Tire which is what happens after exercise or hard work. One that gets some of our American friends is Lorry, they insist it's Truck however a Lorry is a motorised (i.e self propelled) truck rather than a truck like those used on railways, mines etc which are pulled or pushed by some other means. Now Vise does not seem to appear in proper English only American "English", but this word is one in which the English Vice has three meanings .................... Confused? :LOL you will be which is why I never did well in English at school.

Well, of course there are 3 meanings for the same spelling!
That way when you call someone the vice president you can joke about them being "the president of vice."

Plenty of things are powered by vice, however, we use a vise to hold things, not to start them!
Brit, the word you were looking for is tard, not tire.
Actually, the Normans were not French,  but Scandinavians who kicked the French off Normandy and the principal base of English is derived from Old Flemish, with much adding on.
I am related to, but not descended from, William the Bastard, aka King William I of England, my line is through the half brother, William X, Duke of Aquataine, then Baron of Thirlstaine, Lords of Lauderdale, 5th Duke of Lauderdale's second son and his wife, a daughter of the Lord of Sutherland-Gordon, who had to take a sea voyage in 1715 to keep from enjoying the King's hospitality at the Tower.

Hmmm I would have thought maybe Angle but not Scandinavian or Norse as the Normans are too dark in colour. Nors and Scndics tend to be lighter fairer of skin and lighte hair with a lot of yellow hair also reddish of tinge to the hair.

   Now politics them days was exicting was it not .

   It's true that the Normans were different fron the Brettons and other French but my history is not up to decising what exactly the differences were. English of course has Norse influence heck we even had a Viking King or two :D .

Viking, Norse, Norman, Northmen and Northlanders all referred to the same groups.
Normandie was a Celt area, to a large extent, the Brettons are the remnants of that group, closely related to the Cornish.
Normandie , roughly translated, means Northman's land.

Kombi1976,
The Lyman Tru-Line Jr. uses the old 310 Tool ("Nutcracker") dies of 5/8"-30 tpi. I had heard that the Simplex were of a different pitch. Is that so? If so the Simplex could be used here in a 7/8" diestation with an adapter, but not in a Lyman press. The reverse would be true with Lyman dies there I guess.
To avoid fistfights over conventional orthography, (Roosevelt's 1909 reform,) Americans have begun to euphamize to the use of "pound-in" sizer as an innocent alternative.
Those pound-in sizers have the advantage of sizing all the way to the base instead of leaving .125" for the shellholder. I tend to pick up orphans at gunshows when found. I just got a .25-25 Friday.
By the by, I think that Australia has contributed the greatest single neologism to the language in"wowser".
Regards from Darkest California,
Ross
Edit to comment on the rod pictured:
The rod may fit the shellholder shown to serve as a primer seater.

I'm not sure about the tpi on Super Simplex 5/8" dies but there is a convertor available to use them in standard 7/8" presses.
And, yeah, "pound-in" vice dies do size all the way to the rim.
That said, the inner dimensions of the 303/25 vice die I have are a fair bit smaller than those of the 303/25 7/8" FL sizing die and as such cases are visibly different when compared after being sized in each one.
BTW, you're right on the money about the rod with the die set.
It's inserted into a hole in the base of the press and when you pull down on the press it rises up through the shell holder to seat primers, which is pretty trick.
When I set up my den in our new house I'll take some pics illustrating how it works.
Mind you, it isn't so good I'll use it instead of my Autoprime.
The Autoprime is just way too easy to use.

my head hurts with all this, tho EVERYONE in ulster knows King William, or king Billy as we call him!